SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY GOES DOTTY AT ADAMSTOWN FESTIVAL!
The Dot Olympiad
Cleary & Connolly with INDECELTIC
Saturday, 17th August, 12pm – 5pm
Artists Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly have been working with communities in South Dublin County to turn them into dots. Fascinated by human movement, the artists use cutting-edge motion capture technology to digitalise movements of people in sport or dance, expressing them as collections of star-like luminous points, or dots, reminiscent of constellations in the sky. Based on research by Swedish psychologist Dr. Gunnar Johansson (1911-1998), these moving dots reveal the extraordinary ability of the brain to understand the human body in motion from tiny fragments of visual information. This process is similar to how we look at art - our heads construct elaborate figures often from just a few brushstrokes.
An Olympiad is a period of 4 years between Olympic Games, used by the ancient Greeks to reckon time. In Ancient Greece, art and sport went hand in hand — harmony was achieved through exercising both body and mind.
To celebrate this new Olympiad Cleary and Connolly are making an inspiring new artwork, The Dot Olympiad, a moving image artwork integrating the movements of Irish people in sports over 4 years, expressed as constellations of moving dot figures. Commencing this summer in South Dublin County the artists will film Irish sports people: amateurs and professionals of all abilities practicing all types of sport. The project will culminate in a spectacular moving image artwork completed in time for the Los Angeles Olympics and Paralympics, 2028.
Join the team for the first Dot Olympiad community engagement project at Adamstown Festival on August 17th, with an exciting programme including a motion capture demonstration, a chance to show off favourite sports moves, win prizes, and enjoy music, food and fun.
To celebrate the launch of this exciting project the Indo-Irish duo INDECELTIC are joining with FESTIVAL IN A VAN to regale you with their unique fusion of Irish and Indian music and food. Adamstown is one of Ireland’s most culturally mixed areas. Households of southern Asian nationality make up 10% of the population here, and cricket is a favourite sporting activity, so INDECELTIC and the Dancing Dots team will fit right in.
DANCING DOTS!
During spring 2024, the artists worked with young people in Deansrath to make Dancing Dots, a short, animated film expressing the joy of dance through a kaleidoscope of moving dots. Over 2 weeks, Anne and Denis worked with Startbright afternoon club, 5th class from St Ronan’s SNS, 4th class from Talbots SNS, Bawnogue Community Centre, and Funky Feet Dance Group, Bawnogue. The children created a choreography for the film under the guidance of choreographer Cindy Cummings, to live music by Irish Indian duo Anna Tanvir and Maninder Singh. Celebrations days were held in June where the children performed for their families and viewed the final artwork. See the Dancing Dots film, and 'Making of' Dancing Dots at this link Dancing Dots | In Context 5 – Connect
The Dot Olympiad is funded by Creative Ireland South Dublin and South Dublin County Council Arts Office.
Adamstown Youth and Community Centre
AYCC offers a range of programmes and services that aim to empower individuals and communities. From mentorship programmes to community outreach initiatives, our programmes are designed to make a lasting impact.
AYCC envisions a world where everyone has equal opportunities to thrive and succeed. At Adamstown Community Centre, we work towards creating a more just and equitable society by advocating for policies that promote social justice and equality.
Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly Biography
Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly are a team of artists and architects, winners of the AIB award in 2009, and have been making art as the collaborative practice Cleary and Connolly for over twenty years, sharing our time between Ireland and Paris.
Their work is trans-disciplinary: they believe boundaries should never curtail creativity, and have dedicated their lives to sharing this message, working with people from all walks of life - artists, scientists, historians, teachers, ecologists - and of all ages to make work that is really inclusive and encourages others to make art too.
Over the years, Cleary and Connolly have developed multidisciplinary art projects through partnerships with world class galleries and museums, universities, arts organisations, research centres and schools in Ireland, France, Britain, Germany and the US. These include the Pompidou Centre in France; the Barbican and the Tate Modern in London; the National Museum of Ireland and CURAM Research Institute in Ireland.
In 2018, Cleary and Connolly founded the School of Looking to ensure their practice endures and grows. The School of Looking became active in Summer 2019 with invitations to take part in festivals in Ireland, the UK and Germany. They launched the Eco Showboat project in 2022 to address the crucial issue of climate change and it has been an unprecedented success, gaining support from organisations and people all over the country.
It has been a wonderful voyage of discovery for them and now the School of Looking will perpetuate this adventure as an enduring organisation, providing more and more compelling opportunities for people to be creative in active and constructive contexts.
Festival in a Van
A mobile live arts event, Festival in a Van brings live performance to you. A trad session in the town square, a classical concert on the green, Shakespeare at schools, craic at care homes, and poets proclaiming in parks... Festival in a Van tours nationwide, bringing the magic of live performance to the parts and places other venues cannot reach.
Our van has been transformed as a mini mobile venue. Equipped with sound, lights, a drop down stage and a truly lovely crew, we are popping up in parks, streets, squares, care homes and more. During the lockdowns, we made safe, fun arts experiences part of life again. Now we're back on the road, bringing art to where you are.
Supported by Creative Ireland and by The Arts Council, and led by a team of theatre professionals, Festival in a Van is is available to festivals, community groups, schools, Local Authorities, and absolutely anyone who likes the idea of something wonderful coming their way.
INDECELTIC (Anna Tanvir & Maninder Singh) Biography
INDECELTIC is a duo of harp, guitar, and two voices formed in India in 2017. Anna Tanvir and Maninder Singh perform their own compositions and carefully chosen folk songs from around the world in many different languages. Their program is a soul-stirring musical journey from India across Europe to Ireland; praising the beauty of nature and the wonder of the natural world.
Anna has designed and built her own wooden house in France and makes her own clothes. Maninder is an accomplished cook of Indian and European recipes and is constantly researching locally produced ingredients. Both of them have been involved in many ecological projects in India. They now live on a small- holding in County Kilkenny.
Call for participation - Intercultural network of artists, crafters and creatives in South Dublin
Mother Tongues are looking to create a network of creative people from around the world who live and/or work in South Dublin County administrative area. The network is free and open to people 16 and over who are active in one or more of the following: Poetry, drama, writing, painting, drawing, sculpture, calligraphy, modeling, mosaic, theatre, dance, music, photography, film making, craft, festivals, arts curation/programming.
What does the network do?
We meet both online and in person to talk about your art, make art together, learn about opportunities in South Dublin County to develop your skills as an artist (like training, mentoring and funding etc).
For more information, you can visit https://mothertongues.ie/arts-and-culture/ or contact Francesca at francesca@mothertongues.ie
SCENE: South Dublin Creative Economy Network
South Dublin has a vibrant creative economy, from craft and design, artists of all disciplines, musicians, designers - to name just a few areas - and the Local Enterprise Office and its partners are creating this network to support people working in these sectors.
A comprehensive catalogue of support and a broad calendar of events for the members.
Membership is free and you can register at the following link. **Membership is open to businesses trading and located within the South Dublin County Council Administrative area only.
If you work within a creative industry or plan to, please register to become a member so that we can keep in contact with you and let you know what is going on.
